Crystal structure and piezoelectric properties of lead-free epitaxial (K,Na)NbO3 thin films grown on Si substrates.

Epitaxial growth of lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) thin films on (001)SrRuO3/Pt/ZrO2/Si substrates was achieved by using RF magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that lattice constants (a1 = 0.3987 nm, a2 = 0.3959 nm, a3 = 0.4011 nm) of epitaxial KNN thin films with a pseudo cubic system were close to KNN single crystals. Vertical piezoelectric force microscopy observation indicated that the spontaneous polarization Ps with a downward direction was dominant, and the epitaxial KNN thin films were naturally polarized. The epitaxial KNN thin films exhibited low relative dielectric constant (εr ∼ 267). In addition, piezoelectric coefficients |e31,f| showed a constant value of about 6.5 C m−2 with the increase in applied positive voltages. Relatively high converse |e31,f| values were obtained at low applied voltages due to an intrinsic piezoelectric effect. Therefore, the epitaxial KNN thin films might enable piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems driven at low applied voltages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]